Dec 29

Dec 29 What I Learned About Alternative Healing—And Myself—In Peru

I have always struggled with certain aspects of our modern society. One of those struggles is in our western medical system and how we approach health and healing in general. As a result, as I moved through my contemporary education and training in psychology,, I was simultaneously exploring the wisdom found in ancient cultures.

It is no surprise that this curiosity lead me to the jungle. Although alternatively minded I also have great respect for formal learning. A few years ago I began to seek out an experience that may blend my desire for a strict learning environment with teachings from ancient cultures. I found my way to The Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration in the Amazonian town of Lamas, Peru What I learned in those weeks I spent at The Sachamama Center and in the Amazon will stay with me forever, both personally and professionally. It was truly transformational.

From the second I stepped into the facility and met the site director and owner, anthropologist Dr. Frederique Apfell-Marglin, I knew I was about to see and experience things I had never been exposed to before.

My journey started with a local shaman healer or curandero named Carlos, who led me through a holistic blend of healing techniques that help connect individuals to mind, body, and spirit a value that I didn’t fully understand until I experienced it for myself. That heightened awareness of the mind-body connection set the tone, and started me down a path that continued deeper into the jungle on a boat down the Huayaga River where we met another curandero, Aquilino Chujandama, and his son, Henry, a “plant master” who demonstrated the importance of sacred ritual and ceremony in healing.

These theories and indigenous traditions were put into practice at our final stop, the Takiwasi Center in the small town of Tarapoto, Peru. Blending traditional Amazonian medicine and conventional psychotherapy, Takiwasi healers working under thatched roofs in the jungle see as much success in the treatment of addiction as medical professionals in some of the modern world’s most prestigious health care facilities.

I left a different person, and a different kind of practitioner. And while I will always struggle to articulate all the ways this experience changed me verbally, there are three definitive lessons I learned in the Amazon that I will never forget:

1: The Power of Medicinal Plants in Indigenous Healing

So there I was, walking deep in the jungle, being guided by a plant master an expert in the healing power many of these plant-based tonics and ceremonies when I had this realization. Not because someone told me, but because I was living it.

Of course I was aware that certain plants and minerals and vitamins were essential to good health and wellness, but to actually make the tonics—to cut fresh ginger and mix the ingredients in the heart of the jungle—opened my eyes to what other civilizations have known for centuries: As humans in harmony with the Earth, the plants around us are our most natural healers.

In fact, many of our most common physical ailments, from upset stomach to stress, can be healed with the power of plants.

In addition to experiencing the beauty of ancient plant ceremonies, I was able to enjoy a powerful energy healing session that utilized tobacco, breath work, and Ikaros, the healing “songs” of the plants.

Henry, the “plant master,” not only taught me about the uses of each plant, but he also instilled the importance of ceremony and ritual when ingesting these plants.

Plants have cosmic energy. Harnessing that energy results in healing and a state of wellbeing.

2: The Importance of Connecting to Nature for Mind-Body Balance

Beyond the healing power of plants, I also became keenly aware of the importance of connecting to nature. It’s something I often contemplate. In modern psychology we speak of mindfulness, we talk about energy healing, but often we forget the most basic elements of nature.

Spending time in a natural spring reminded me of the restorative benefits of being immersed in a place filled with lush, green plants, fresh air, and a culture that truly respects the land. There was a moment after a master plant ceremony when I was buried in the jungle, and we were being asked to clear and feel our energetic fields. The shaman asked for permission to enter this place in the jungle, and if he didn’t receive a “yes” from the spirit of the forest, he wouldn’t go in. Seeing that and living that moment that really shifted the way I experience nature now.

3: The Necessity for More Integrative Medicine Approaches in Health Care

In the U.S. we are just beginning to unlock the potential of integrative health approaches. The way in which the practitioners and the shamans work with mind-body medicine in the Peruvian Amazon is all-encompassing. There is no separation between the emotional, physical, and spiritual. Everything is connected.

In observing these indigenous healers and learning more about their beliefs and practice, I became aware of how important it is to have a healthy relationship with your own spiritual self. This means being mindful of what you eat but also what you expose yourself to.

Clearing negative energy opens a pathway to wellness, and that realization is something our modern society could genuinely benefit from.

So it is all of these things I am carry into to my own practice and the clients I care for as a therapist as well as to myself. I expect to infuse my clinical work with my ancient and traditional teachings for many years to come.